Stand Our Ground
by ReconditeAgony
Summary: The Mixed Match Challenge is making way for WWE and many are excited for it. A mixed tag match is no stranger to Smackdown superstar, Imigie, who is set to compete in the match with a partner that WWE chooses. After finding out who her partner is, she tags along with him as they journey their way to try to win the Mixed Match Challenge Trophy. Can they do it?
1. Preface

There she was, waiting for the next move. The next move that would do enough for her to fall back from the pain.

She looked up at her partner as he smiled at her, gesturing her to go on. She smiled back then turned to her opponent who was standing in front of her.

Both women glared at each other dangerously before both were fighting for control. This wasn't the first time they had fought like this and wondering who would take control between the two was hard enough.

Eventually, they let go of each other, leaving the crowd wondering what would happen next. One of the women began to dance in a taunting way. The other woman shook her head, looking rather unimpressed. She pushed the other woman down while the crowd cheered loudly.

She turned to her partner then walked up to him. She gave him a tag as he got out of the apron and into the ring. He quickly turned to her, giving her a quick smile then she smiled back.

He turned back to see his opponent, who, like his partner, taunted him. The other man just stood there, shaking his head in disapproval. He kicked his opponent as the two exchanged punches.

Their partners were shouting at them to try to gain control of the match in front of them. Even the crowd joined along with the women to shout at which man to gain control of the match.

It was already proving to be a chaotic and wild match between the two tag teams. To several, it wasn't hard to see why.


	2. News

Author's Note: Hey guys! I decided to write this separate story that will happen during the middle of Smackdown's Agonist. If I put this during Smackdown's Agonist, it would seem a little out of place, given the Mixed Match Challenge's main goal while Imigie's main goal in Smackdown's Agonist is to win the Smackdown Women's Championship.  
Because of these reasons, I decided to make this separate story so that there won't be a confusaroo, lmao.  
Also, there may be a bit of spoilers from both New Agonist and Smackdown's Agonist. Just warning you. I sometimes get a little too impatient when writing certain chapters or something that I force myself to write it down in my notes or something but here, this is little different, lol  
Anyway, hope y'all like this story that I have for y'all! :D

*Third Person POV*

The atmosphere backstage at a Smackdown live event was full of laughter and lively conversations. There was no drama, just kindness and friendly conversations.

It was a normal evening for the Smackdown superstars as they went on for their matches and segments. It was already getting close to Thanksgiving, at least for the ones celebrating it. For the rest, it would be another normal day.

However, the only conversation that stood out from the rest of the superstars was one between two men, the Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan and the Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon. Their eyes lightened up at each other's words.

"So it is going to be true about the Mixed Match Challenge," Daniel Bryan said.

"Yes," Shane McMahon replied, smirking. "And come to think of it, one of our own superstars here is no stranger to mixed tag matches so she'll definitely click in pretty well."

"You're not wrong," Daniel smiled. "She'll easily get a hang in this..."

He paused as a thought ran through his head. He pondered for a moment before turning back to Shane.

"You know what?" he finally said. "If she was in the final round with her partner, do you think she'd win?"

Shane pondered this for a moment then turned back to Daniel.

"We'll just have to see," he replied. "But right now, we just need to think about who we should pair her up with, along with the others participating in the match."

"Should we break the news to everyone participating so that we get this underway?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," Shane answered. "Then we'll have everything done by next week."

Both men smiled then headed to talk to the room where the creative team was.

—

The Smackdown superstars were deep in their usual conversations about life and high school level drama. All except for one.

One superstar was sitting alone on a soundboard, furiously writing down in her small notebook. She smiled as she wrote more, not even looking up.

However, she heard a knock on the soundboard, causing her to jump in surprise as her blue eyes darted up to a brunette and brown-eyes man. She smiled when she saw him.

"Oh, hello Douglas Montague," she said.

"Hello, Imigie," he replied. "How's my best friend doing?"

"I'm pretty good," she said. "You?"

"I'm good, actually," he smiled, lightly patting her on the shoulder.

She just gave a quiet laugh as her best friend took a seat besides her.

"Anyway," he said. "Have you heard any rumblings about something called a mixed match challenge or something like that?"

He saw her eyes widen in surprise then she shook her head. He almost expected for her to not hear anything about it, hence why she shook her head and why she looked so surprised.

"I figured you haven't," Douglas replied. "But, I decided to ask you anyway just in case you somehow did."

His friend nodded, acknowledging that she understood him.

"It won't be a surprise that you may likely be involved in it," he continued. "These kind of matches always seem to be your strongest types of tag matches."

She just gave a quiet giggle when she heard him say this. However, she knew that he wasn't wrong.

"I guess you've known this since day one," she said. "But, you never know. We're quite stacked."

The two best friends laughed at the statement. They weren't wrong though. The second draft that happened after WrestleMania had given Smackdown a lot of good stars, mostly the male stars. However, the women's division was quite stacked as well.

The two friends calmed down from their laughter before Douglas spoke.

"You know..." he began, his voice turning serious. "I've seen your mixed tag matches in the past. My only fear is that... you might get hurt or something. I know that you've been... close onto getting hurt on multiple occasions..."

His friend's eyes widened with shock when she heard this. She knew this all too well. It gave her memories of her time in the indies.

Even at the age of twenty, the memories of her near-injuries that happened during her intergender matches still plagued her mind. She shuddered at them.

"That might be the only thing that could possibly keep me from participating in the challenge at all," she said. "I remember that you had like just come here, sometime after I met you. The first injury that I had since walking into the company..."

She let out a sad sigh as she looked down, the memory still haunting her.

"Thank god it wasn't a neck injury as well," Douglas added with a small chuckle. "I've heard rumors that you might've had that as well but let's be glad it wasn't true. I would think you would've been out longer. You had missed enough NXT Takeovers."

"I guess you can say that," Imigie agreed.

She looked up at her friend again.

"Even though I tried so desperately to pull through," she finished.

Her friend gave her a light pat on the shoulder, smiling as he did so.

"And no wonder why Shane really warmed up to you after a few weeks," he said. "I heard the whole story about him not taking much in you at first when you arrived to Smackdown. However, it was your determination that really got him into having faith in you. I think that if you end up in this challenge, it's because of your determination, regardless of the cons."

The two friends smiled before Douglas turned to leave. Imigie was now alone but it didn't seem to bother her. She pondered everything that her friend had said to her.

 _I might need to think this through_ , she thought. _I might be no stranger to intergender matches, kind of like Candice LeRae or someone like her but unlike her, I've been close to injuries on multiple occasions. But, what if I still manage to land a spot in the challenge because I use my determination?_

There was a lot for her to think about, coming when the day of the challenge, itself, got closer and closer. She had to keep her head high if she were going to be in the challenge at all.


End file.
